Managing your startup capital

Becoming an entrepreneur is not as easy as waking up with an idea and having money thrown at you to turn it into a reality. Most successful entrepreneurs share the same sentiments – it takes many rejections and disappointments, and plenty of restarts. There are two things this article will explore; how to get startup capital, and how to manage it.

1. How to get the startup capital
   Your drive to become an entrepreneur should not be derived from wanting to have exactly what another entrepreneur has achieved. By virtue of your business idea being different, an opportunity to succeed already exists. Think carefully and seriously about your creative ideas to assess which ones present the most viable options. When you know what will work, approach investors.

   Investors are willing to consider investing startup capital to get your idea into the already competitive market and growing your customer base as quickly as possible. They want to see that their investment is going into the practical ways of making things happen.

2. How to manage it
   Now that the capital for your business is available to you, your return on your idea’s marketing budget should now be approximated. Think realistically when it comes to overheads, advertising and personnel as these areas should not be where all your capital goes. The two important things that ensure that you appear more credible are the idea development and the launch thereof.

• Ensure that you are able to track your expenditure so that your capital does not collapse.
• Let your startup capital be for business purposes and don’t let personal problems dip into it
• Learn to use a cloud accounting system to avoid possible accounting errors, and to balance your books

This article is a general information sheet and should not be used or relied upon as professional advice. No liability can be accepted for any errors or omissions nor for any loss or damage arising from reliance upon any information herein. Always contact your adviser for specific and detailed advice. Errors and omissions excepted (E&OE).